Croatia sharply responded to Montenegro: Your goal is to devalue and relativize the Resolution on Srebrenica

(Patria) - After the Parliament of Montenegro adopted the Resolution on the genocide in the Jasenovac, Dachau, and Mauthausen camps tonight, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MVEP) of Croatia issued a statement.

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Montenegrin Parliament adopts resolution on genocide in Jasenovac, Croatia announces sharp response

(Patria) - The Montenegrin parliament tonight adopted a resolution on the genocide in Jasenovac. 42 MPs of the parliamentary majority voted, 41 for and one against. Opposition MPs, as previously announced, left the parliamentary hall because they did not

"Croatia considers the adoption of the resolution on Jasenovac in the Montenegrin parliament unacceptable, inappropriate, and unnecessary, and regrets that Podgorica has decided to ignore Croatia's calls not to politicize the victims of Jasenovac and not to take steps that could negatively affect bilateral relations and Montenegro's European path.

Croatia considers the adoption of a resolution whose intention is not to build a culture of remembrance and reconciliation, but to instrumentalize the memory of the victims of Jasenovac for the short-term political goals of the initiators of this resolution, unacceptable, inappropriate, and unnecessary.

Since Montenegro has placed itself in a position that Croatia cannot interpret as neighborly and which is contrary to the intentions of developing friendly relations, the Republic of Croatia reserves the right to react in an appropriate manner," stated the first reaction from the Croatian MVEP, but did not specify what concrete steps official Zagreb would take.

MVEP emphasizes that it is undeniable that the motive for adopting the resolution on Jasenovac stems from the adoption of the Resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica at the UN in May.

"From the above, it is clear that the resolution on Jasenovac was adopted in order to devalue and relativize the UN Resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica, which was established by a series of judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and in the judgment of the International Court of Justice of February 26, 2007.

In addition to such a move not being considered well-intentioned and neighborly, it is also not in line with Montenegro's declared goal of EU membership.

Good neighborly relations are one of the key elements of the enlargement process as well as the stabilization and association process, and one of the key criteria for assessing progress in Montenegro's accession process.

Since a positive report on the fulfillment of the interim measures for chapters 23 and 24 (IBAR) was recently adopted, Croatia expected Montenegro to refrain from any activity that could lead to the disruption or deterioration of good neighborly relations and to focus its efforts on fulfilling the conditions and measures in the accession process, some of which are particularly important for Croatia.

In accordance with the EU Common Position for Chapter 23, presented at the Intergovernmental Conference on June 26, Montenegro must show progress and results related to the prosecution of war crimes, including establishing accountability at a high level, resolving cases of missing persons, as well as the issue of compensation for victims and the protection of national minorities and their rights.

Croatia expects Montenegro to prioritize addressing the issue of establishing responsibility for crimes committed by citizens of Montenegro during the aggression against Croatia in the 1990s. This particularly includes those committed during the attack on Dubrovnik, which began on October 1, 1991, and the siege of the city, which lasted until May 1992, as well as crimes committed against Croatian citizens in Montenegro, including in the Morinj camp where more than 350 Croatian citizens were detained from September 1991 to August 1992, and the issue of fair compensation for all former detainees," stated MVEP.

Official Zagreb had warned even before the resolution was put on the agenda that it could significantly slow down Montenegro's path to the EU.